Farrell Hall Construction Update in Old Gold & Black

Farrell Hall Update
Reposted from Old Gold & Black | by David Inczauskis

Farrell Hall, the future home of the Wake Forest Schools of Business, continues on schedule to open for classes at the beginning of the 2013-2014 academic year. The construction project, according to James Alty, assistant vice president for Facilities Management, has run rather smoothly to date.

“We began on time, and we haven’t had much in terms of weather delays,” Alty said. “We plan on finishing in July of 2013.” The new building is expected to boast several innovative and practical features —including a dining venue, an auditorium and a three-story atrium — that will give students and faculty more space and comfort for conversation and academic endeavors.

“I think the largest impact feature is what they will call the Founder’s Living Room, which is the main atrium there,” Alty said. “You are going to walk into the building and see a very large, open and grand space with a lot of soft seating and a lot of study space.”

Academic classrooms, student aid offices, financial aid offices and student services rooms will wrap around the Founder’s Living Room. Farrell Hall will house a much anticipated addition to university dining, too.

“I know they were looking at Cosi,” Alty said. “I want to say that it is a sort of a version of Panera Bread where you will have options such as sandwiches, deli meats and different types of breads.”

David Clark, assistant dean of the Schools of Business, suggests that the auditorium — a large space that will seat up to about 400 people — will be one of the more significant characteristics of Farrell. The auditorium will be a place “where students from across the Wake Forest campus can listen and learn from the accomplished executives invited as part of the Leading Out Loud Executive Lecture Series,” Clark said.

These features and the presence of Farrell Hall will likely change the dynamics of campus life at the university. Combined with the two upperclassman residence halls that are scheduled to open around the same time, the new base of the Wake Forest Schools of Business may awaken the day-life of North Campus.

“I think that the north side of campus is sort of the sleepy side of campus,” Alty said.

“Farrell Hall is going to make that a much more vibrant place. It is really going to draw people further north. The whole strip along Carroll Weathers Road is going to become completely different.”

Anticipations and projections aside, Farrell Hall is destined to aid the development of both the undergraduate and graduate business programs, providing them with the space and the resources they need to foster lasting achievement.

“Farrell Hall is being designed to accommodate how students learn now and into the future,” Clark said. “We expect that all students will be drawn to Farrell Hall because of its collaborative spaces that facilitate group study and interactive learning.”

One example of Farrell Hall’s focus on “interactive learning” will be its digital library, which will be equipped with the most up-to-date academic research technology. “The virtual library will look more like an Apple store than the traditional bricks-and-mortar libraries of the past,” Clark said.

Undoubtedly, Farrell Hall — the epitome of the university’s picturesque look and its forward-thinking, intellectual feel — will be a launching-pad to future success in a collegiate environment that continues to grow.